The reader perceives Boodil as lumpish, dithering, dawdling, obstinate, stubborn, and generally idiosyncratic; the child-narrator sees her as charming, playful, delightful, and original. So we have a masterful children's book - humorously painted with exceeding verve, told deadpan, and introducing young readers to the tricks of complex narrative. Recommended for Ages 4 - 8 yrs.

    While his mother goes shopping, Will chooses a very unusual hairstyle for his school party, but soon everybody wants one

    True or false? Lindgren's forger "simply creates freedom. Freedom from certainties and markets and the authorities. What are called forgeries," he says, "are the only true expression of our age." Marklund the picture-framer sinks all his savings into a Madonna by Dardel, the Swedish artist's masterwork. Suddenly the picture makes a duplicate appearance, in the studio of the man with the goatee beard; and the tax authorities confiscate the original; and the sitter's son turns up asserting it is stolen property; and Marklund's ex-girlfriend claims a half-share. Marklund's childhood friend Ingela, meanwhile, has learnt to sing and is taken up by an impresario who launches her career as Paula, Sweden's biggest name in pop. But is she too a forgery - if not in the eyes of her plastic-surgeon lover, then in those of the press who "created" her? Recounting this burlesque adventure of the two young innocents at odds with contemporary values, Torgny Lindgren has once again achieved a perfect tale for our times, ironic, profound, many-layered and utterly enjoyable.